무한회귀 갤러리의 호감뉴비가 되었다*

"...Yawn."

I had just woken up, and I blankly pushed myself upright.

Rising from bedding that was still far from soft, I blinked the drowsiness from my eyes.

No one would scold me for sleeping longer, and taking a short nap wouldn’t cause any problems.

But I knew all too well how important it was to have a routine of my own in a place like this.

I have neither goals nor dreams, but...

Slap!

Still, I didn’t want to die, so I lightly slapped my cheek with my palm and slowly got to my feet.

Swipe.

After posting my wake-up check-in to the gallery, I chewed and swallowed some hard bread.

I forced down lukewarm water to fill my stomach, then prepared to climb the tower again.

Nothing much going on in the gallery, either.

Wiki had disappeared, but it had only been a day, so I figured it was nothing.

Even if he vanished for another week, he’d pop right back up again.

I’d worry when he actually disappeared again, but there was no need to be seriously concerned after just one day.

-1535-

[Apocalypse 348:18:48:57]

[Section 4:18:48:57]

[ 37 / 21 ]

I gave a bitter smile as I looked at the timer visible in the cavern.

In the end, another run had passed, yet Irregular still hadn’t appeared.

Even if Irregular did appear, I honestly had no idea how I would use it.

I didn’t know whether going back to my original world was the right thing to do, or whether I even wanted to return there.

Of course, living alone here in loneliness, gambling my life while being chased by time, wasn’t enjoyable, but...

...Even if I go back, there’s nothing precious left for me there.

Neither life was anywhere close to what I wanted.

All the more so because, contrary to the other gallery users’ misunderstanding, I hadn’t obtained Irregular and become the gallery’s head mod... its administrator.

I’m only hiding it because I don’t want to cause confusion.

It wasn’t as though I’d made a wish to Irregular and become the head mod.

...No, not head mod—administrator!

"It’d be nice if I could climb around three floors today."

Whether it was possible or not, I decided to set my goal high.

Climbing quickly at the beginning would give me time to deal with things if unexpected variables came up later.

I couldn’t race upward like Wiki did, so I had to keep making steady progress.

Step.

Just as I took a step, resolving that I would finish the Tower of Trials up to the tenth floor today.

Ding!

"...?"

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Head mod, can you see this?

"Huh...?"

A new window I had never seen in my life appeared on my terminal.

Wiki’s username floated over a translucent hologram.

An incomprehensible question asking whether I could see this.

[Monster Hunter Wiki]

-??????????

Faced with an incomprehensible situation, I conveyed exactly how I felt.

While I waited for a reply that didn’t immediately come, I spent a moment checking around to figure out what this was.

Is it like a messenger app...?

I realized it was somewhat similar to the messenger apps used in my original world.

-It’s you, Wiki, right...?

-What is this...?

-Did you discover something else?!

-Please answer me already..!!

How?!

Just how was he talking to me?

How could something like a messenger app exist in this tower?

When I checked my terminal, there was an unfamiliar program called [Starlink] installed next to the gallery app.

Wiki was the only person listed as someone I could talk to.

I didn’t know whether I could talk to other people too, but I was more curious about this itself than that.

Swipe.

-What the hell is this, Wki!!!

-Is it a messenger app? Starlink?? What even is Starlink...!!

-Please answer me already!!

My typing had been honed through fifteen hundred years of gallery posting.

I could finish a sentence in two seconds.

I kept demanding that he answer quickly and tell me what the hell was going on, until—

Ding!

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Fuck, stop!!!

-Huh?? What do you mean, stop??

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Please stop!!! This fucking thing costs money!!!!

"...Money?"

I muttered quietly at Wiki’s message, which seemed oddly urgent.

It cost money?

Was there even such a thing as money in the tower?

No... Wiki could climb the tower in an instant and send me food whenever he wanted.

Could those abilities be related to that ‘money’?

Is he... some kind of special ability user?

There were people in the tower with every conceivable kind of ability.

They had been brought here from all sorts of worlds, so there were people with abilities I had never seen before in my life.

As I waited, wondering if Wiki might be one of them—

"..."

Ten seconds.

"..."

Twenty seconds.

"...How long am I supposed to wait?"

Thirty seconds.

I anxiously bit my lip when another message failed to arrive.

For some reason, I felt restless. I didn’t know whether it was because I knew this was a place where only the two of us could talk, or because I had found something new for the first time in fifteen hundred years.

Then, after about a minute that felt like a year—

Ding!

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Anomaly, Irregular, tower, escape, past, TP, Central Administration

"...What?"

I blankly blinked at the message packed with nothing but words I didn’t understand.

I understood what each of them meant.

Other than TP and the Central Administration, they were naturally familiar things.

Anomaly... that was the thing Wiki showed me before, right...?

I tilted my head and furrowed my brow, wondering what this meant.

I wanted to ask him directly, but he had said it cost money, so I held myself back and decided to wait.

If he didn’t reply at all, I could ask again then.

I decided not to do anything that might cause trouble because of my actions.

Having already made one major mistake, I had to be especially careful with Wiki.

...

Another ten seconds, twenty seconds... a full additional minute passed.

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Ah, shit; can’t see it here either? If you saw it, reply already.

"...?"

I frowned at the new message that came almost two minutes later.

What was he even talking about now?

-You told me to stop...!!

-You said not to send messages because it costs money...!!

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Right; sorry, but can you reply all at once if possible? Every three messages costs one cola. I’ve already lost five colas.

"Gasp...!!"

Startled by Wiki’s words, I took my hands off the terminal.

Five colas? Losing that much over such a brief conversation was far too serious, wasn’t it?

-Monster Hunter Wiki: First, you can see everything I wrote above about the anomaly and all that, right? This is a new ability I got. And if anything changed on your end, tell me ‘all at once.’

I nodded in an empty room at Wiki’s emphatic insistence that I send it all at once.

I can see everything you sent above... As for changes on my end...

Perhaps it was just the [Starlink] program being installed on my terminal.

Just in case, I looked all around the cavern, then went back to my hideout and checked again, but nothing stood out.

The tower’s timer was running normally, and the gallery was fine as well.

Once I had completed every check I could possibly make, I sent Wiki another message.

-I can see everything. The only change is that a program called ‘Starlink’ appeared on my terminal. You’re the only person I can talk to, too.

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Ah, seriously?

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Ah fuck, I sent that short out of habit. Anyway, it’s an ability that lets the two of us talk. Could there be a problem if we use this with the other gallery users?

-Uh... no? Why would that be a problem?

I scratched my cheek at Wiki’s question.

Wouldn’t talking to other people be a good thing?

At least, it made me oddly happy.

It felt a little different from interacting through comments in the gallery.

It felt special somehow, and the corners of my lips kept lifting for no reason.

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Okay, this costs way too much, so I’ll end it here for now. I think it might be possible for you to message me first, too? But unless something serious happens, don’t send one. You’d rather get cola too, right?

"Cola is nice, but..."

Honestly, I wanted to talk more than I wanted cola.

What kind of person he was, how he normally climbed the tower so quickly, how he sent food, too.

I wanted to talk about many things, but hearing that one cola cost three messages made me a little reluctant.

-Monster Hunter Wiki: Last thing, I’m going to send you something. Is there anything you want to eat? It’s been a while since I came by, so I’ll send you whatever you want.

It’s been a while?

It had only been two days since Wiki sent me chicken and beer.

Maybe he had spent a long time inside a tower.

Even if months passed in a space within the tower, only one day passed outside.

I didn’t know how that was possible... but since it was reality, I simply accepted it.

-It’s only been two days, so I’m okay. And honestly, just getting to talk with you for even a little while was fun, so that’s enough for me!

I meant it.

I didn’t quite know how to put it, but I was happy to have had such a special experience.

Both the fact that we had shared a conversation just between the two of us that nobody else knew about, and the fact that Wiki had messaged me first rather than someone else.

"Hehe..."

I was happy enough that I couldn’t stop smiling for some reason.

I should hurry and get back to climbing the tower.

Wiki didn’t send a reply.

I didn’t worry too much about it this time, though.

We had both said everything we needed to say, and the morning drowsiness and fatigue had long since flown far away.

For now, I just had to happily climb the tower, return quickly, and manage the gallery.

Just as I was about to head toward the cave containing the Tower of Trials—

Rumble!

"...!"

Behind me, I heard a sound that had, absurdly enough, become so familiar by now.

"Cola..."

I had said I didn’t need anything.

He probably hadn’t even replied because it cost money.

A bright smile naturally spread across my face at Wiki’s thoughtfulness in making sure to send me cola anyway.

I should hurry back from the tower and drink it.

Today really, truly felt like it was going to be a wonderful day.

I climbed much faster than I thought I would.

Was it because I felt more motivated than usual?

-1535-

[Apocalypse 348:12:30:37]

[Section 4:12:30:37]

[ 40 / 21 ]

I was able to climb the floors I had aimed for much faster than expected.

I had expected three floors in six hours—three hours per floor—but I climbed at an incomparably faster pace.

"Then... right away...!"

I swallowed as I looked at the cola sitting perfectly still in the center of the cavern.

I had worked hard for that. I had tried incredibly hard.

With practiced ease, I opened the cola and parted my lips, thinking I would drink just one-fifth of it.

Gulp... gulp...

"Ahhh... hehe..."

The sweetness filling my mouth and the fizz sliding down my throat made a laugh slip out.

I was happy. Thanks to Wiki, I had been happy all day long.

Swipe.

It was time to report to the gallery that I had finished my tower climb, then check what had happened.

It’ll be full of talk about Wiki, right?

Thinking back to the conversation we had earlier, he had surely spent a long time in some tower.

He had probably climbed the fiftieth floor of the Tower of Mindscape. The gallery would be active with talk about that.

A full two hundred floors.

A newbie who had climbed two hundred floors in roughly two months.

The gallery would surely be full of talk about Wiki, who had achieved something unbelievable even to me.

[Infinite Regression Gallery]

[Come to think of it, newbie buff is seriously insane;]

[Mindscape Tower really is fucking awful]

[The past it shows varies wildly by person, seriously]

[Upvote if seeing your past didn’t matter much to you lol]

...What?

The mood was quite different from what I had expected.

How should I put it? The whole place felt subdued.

"Search username..."

[☆ Mindscape Tower is seriously fucking awful lol] (123)

[Honestly, it’s no big deal] (55)

[My head hurts] (34)

[★ Reached floor 200 yeah] (258)

"..."

He seemed to be in a somewhat different state from when we spoke earlier.

Of course, that might have been because I recklessly spent Wiki’s money while we were talking, but...

[☆ Meeting someone dead again << Anyone else experienced this?] (88)

Meeting someone dead again...

Seeing a post that made it immediately clear why Wiki had written those things, I understood for sure.

I had gone through it countless times myself.

It wasn’t always the same situation, and even if I thought I had brought it to a close in my own way, they appeared again.

The more it repeated, the more farewells I had alone, the more worn down I became.

This was Wiki’s first time going through it, but that didn’t make it any less painful.

Rather, since I didn’t know what kind of past he had gone through, it was hard for anyone else to casually touch upon it.

...Is he having a really hard time?

Those were all the posts he had made.

As usual, he hadn’t shared food or posted anything playful.

When he had talked with me, he had seemed brightest then.

Talking... messages...

At a sudden thought, I opened the newly installed [Starlink].

Our conversation was still there exactly as it had been.

I wondered what I could say to cheer Wiki up, whether sharing my own experience might give him even a little strength.

But though I thought it over, my hand wouldn’t move easily.

-Unless something serious happens, don’t send one.

Maybe telling him my story would just be me sticking my nose where it didn’t belong.

Would it really help to spend Wiki’s money telling him something he never even wanted to hear?

I was wary that, after several hours had already passed, I might stir things up for him again too late.

What if he was coping well, trying to ignore it, and I made it come back to him again?

Like I had when I was hurting... maybe he’s crying alone somewhere...

When I watched my younger sibling die again for the first time, I shut myself inside my hideout and cried for days on end.

Having cruel memories I had tried to forget come back to life was never a pleasant feeling.

"Me too... If it hadn’t been for the previous head mod, it would’ve been hard for me to get back up."

She was the only person who comforted me and slowly took care of me.

Her face, her name, where she was now.

Though I knew nothing about her, I clearly remembered that comfort from another person could give you strength.

So I wanted to comfort Wiki too.

Since I was always the one receiving, and today too I had stupidly spent a huge amount of Wiki’s money and even accepted cola from him.

Still, I don’t think telling him my story would be right...

Maybe he wouldn’t mind, but I couldn’t help minding.

Gulp.

So... it was a little embarrassing, but...

Wouldn’t it be okay if I comforted him in the way he liked?

Maybe this would be better than saying difficult things or giving pretentious advice.

Swipe.

"Hah..."

I really didn’t want to do something like this at all, but...

If this alone could help Wiki feel better...

"W-Wiki showed me what you look like by accident, too... So..."

Click!

...The moment I send this, I’m going straight to sleep.

There was no way I could keep holding my terminal while sober.

"Uuuuuugh...!!!"

[KingGodWiki]

[Send]

"Aaaaah—!!"

Ding!

[Message from Not an Eraser]

"...?"

I blankly blinked at the Starlink notifications.

I told him only to send messages if something serious happened.

A new message from the head mod had arrived after only around half a day.

I was already bitter after several thousand TP had melted away in an instant, but I hadn’t expected him to send another message before even a day had passed. Two of them, at that.

Should I have warned him more firmly?

Or had something truly serious happened?

I pressed down on my throbbing head and immediately checked the head mod’s messages.

[Not an Eraser]

-Not an Eraser: (Photo)

I tilted my head at the photo icon visible in the preview.

Had something happened that warranted sending a photo?

Press.

"................"

The moment I entered the chatroom without much thought and saw what was there, my mouth fell open.

-Not an Eraser: Look at this and cheer up, Wiki... You asked me to show you a photo of my breasts before... Cheer up, Wiki... I’m always grateful... You’ve worked so hard...!!

-Not an Eraser:

"Wow..."

His gallery-addict instincts are insane.

Chapter 58: Starlink (1)

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Chapter 58: Starlink (1)

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